Touch display device and touch display panel

ABSTRACT

The present embodiments generally relate to a display panel and a display device which may recognize touch. A display panel is provided in which a touch sensor and a touch line are disposed in an active area in which a part of an outer edge of the touch line is curved to correspond to a curved shape of the active area in the display panel so that the touch sensing is allowed in display panels having various shapes. Further, a touch display device is provided in which an open area is located between two adjacent touch lines disposed on the display panel so that touch sensing is allowed also in the display panel including an open area such as a hole or a notch.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2017-0068250, filed Jun. 1, 2017, which is hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to touch display panels and a touchdisplay devices which may sense user's touch on a display panel. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to touch display panels andtouch display devices having one or more curved portions or open areas.

Description of the Related Art

With the progress of the information-oriented society, various types ofdemands for display devices which display an image are increasing.Further, various types of display devices such as a liquid crystaldisplay device, a plasma display device, and an organic light emittingdisplay device have been used.

Such a display device provides a function of recognizing user's touch ona display panel and performing an input processing based on therecognized touch in order to provide various functions to the user.

For example, a plurality of touch sensors are disposed on a displaypanel to sense the user's touch on the display panel, and touch linesare provided which connect the touch sensors to a driving circuit.Further, a change in a capacitance caused by the user's touch on thedisplay panel is sensed to detect the presence or absence of the user'stouch on the display panel and a touched position.

Therefore, in such a touch display device, a touch sensor and a touchline need to be disposed in the display panel. However, it is difficultto apply a layout structure of the touch sensor and the touch line ofthe related art to various shaped display devices emerging according tovarious demands of users in recent years.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one aspect, the present embodiments provide a layout structure of thetouch sensors and the touch lines which is capable of recognizing user'stouch on a display panel in display devices having various shapes,including non-quadrangular shapes.

In another aspect, the present embodiments provide a touch displaydevice and a touch display panel which constantly maintain a sensitivityof touch sensing according to a position of a display panel in variousdisplay devices and enables touch sensing on the display panel.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda touch display device including a display panel having an active areain which a plurality of pixels are disposed, and a non-active areaoutside of the active area. The active area has an outer perimeterincluding a curved portion. A plurality of touch sensors are positionedon the active area, and a plurality of touch lines are disposed on thenon-active area. The plurality of touch lines are connected to theplurality of touch sensors, and have respective curved portionscorresponding to the curved portion of the outer perimeter of the activearea.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided a touch display panel including an active area having an outerperimeter including a curve, and a non-active area positioned outsidethe active area and having an outer perimeter including a curve. Aplurality of touch sensors are positioned on the active area, and aplurality of touch lines are positioned on the non-active area. Theplurality of touch lines are connected to the plurality of touchsensors, and have respective curved portions positioned between thecurved outer perimeter of the active area and the curved outer perimeterof the non-active area.

According to still another embodiment of the present disclosure, thereis provided a touch display device including a display panel having anactive area and an open area formed at least partially in the activearea. A plurality of touch lines are disposed on the display panel, anda plurality of touch lines are disposed on the display panel andconnected to the plurality of touch sensors. The open area is positionedbetween two adjacent touch lines of the plurality of touch lines.

According to one or more embodiments, a touch sensor and a touch lineare disposed to correspond to shapes of a display panel and an activearea in various display devices so that a user's touch on the displaypanel may be sensed in display devices having various shapes.

Further, a size of the touch sensor may be adjusted according to aposition of the display panel so that a sensitivity of the touch sensingaccording to the position of the display panel in the various shapes ofdisplay devices may be uniformly maintained.

Further, a method for implementing variant display device whilemaintaining the layout structure of the touch sensor and the touch lineis provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of thepresent disclosure will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a touch display deviceaccording to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views illustrating positions of thetouch sensor in a touch display device when the touch display device isan organic light emitting display device, in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically illustrating a structure of a touchsensor and a touch line in a touch display device having one or morecurved outer edges, in accordance with one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically illustrating another example of astructure of a touch display device having one or more curved outeredges, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically illustrating another example of astructure of a touch display device having one or more curved outeredges, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically illustrating a structure of a touchsensor and a touch line disposed in a touch display device including anopen area, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view schematically illustrating a structure of a touchsensor and a touch line disposed in a touch display device including anotch formed at an outer edge of the touch display device, in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Whendesignating elements of the drawings by reference numerals, the sameelements may be referenced by the same reference numerals, although thesame elements are illustrated in different drawings. Further, if it isconsidered that a detailed description of related known features,configurations or functions may cloud or otherwise obscure the gist ofthe present disclosure, then the detailed description of such knownfeatures, configurations or features may be omitted.

Further, in describing components of the present disclosure,terminologies such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), and the like may beused. The terminologies are used to distinguish one component fromanother component. However, a nature, an order, a sequence, or thenumber of components is not limited by the terminologies. If it isdescribed that a component is “connected” or “coupled” to anothercomponent, it is understood that the component may be directly connectedor coupled to the other component, one or more additional components maybe interposed between the components, or the components may be“connected” or “coupled” through another component.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a touch display device100 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, a touch display device 100 according to embodimentsof the present disclosure includes a touch display panel 110 on which aplurality of touch sensors TS and a plurality of touch lines TL aredisposed, and a driving circuit (not illustrated) which outputs a touchdriving signal to the touch sensors TS and senses touch based on a touchsensing signal received from the touch sensors TS.

The plurality of touch sensors TS may include first touch sensors TS(Tx)and second touch sensors TS(Rx). Similarly, the plurality of touch linesTL may include first touch lines TL(Tx) and second touch lines TL(Rx).The first touch sensors TS(Tx) are coupled to one another along a firstdirection 101 by first electrical connections 121 so as to form rows offirst touch sensors TS(Tx). Each row of the first touch sensors TS(Tx)is coupled to a respective first touch line TL(Tx), which supplies atouch driving signal from the driving circuit to the first touch sensorsTS(Tx).

The second touch sensors TS(Rx) are coupled to one another along asecond direction 102 by second electrical connections 122 so as to formcolumns of second touch sensors TS(Rx). Each column of the second touchsensors TS(Rx) is coupled to a respective second touch line TL(Rx),which supplies the touch sensing signal from the second touch sensorsTS(Rx) to the driving circuit. The first direction 101 may be ahorizontal direction, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 1, and thesecond direction 102 may be a vertical direction in the plan view ofFIG. 1. Further, the first direction 101 and the second direction 102may be perpendicular to one another, as shown. However, embodimentsprovided herein are not limited thereto.

The touch display panel 110 may be divided into an active area A/A inwhich a plurality of sub pixels are disposed to display an image, and anon-active area N/A which is located outside the active area A/A andincludes a wiring line which transmits a signal applied to the subpixels.

In the active area A/A of the touch display panel 110, gate lines anddata lines are disposed to intersect each other and sub pixels aredisposed in areas where the gate lines and the data lines intersect.

The sub pixels disposed in the active area A/A represent a gray scaleaccording to a data voltage supplied through a respective data line inaccordance with a timing of a scan signal applied to the respective gateline to display an image through the active area A/A.

In such an active area A/A, a plurality of touch sensors TS for sensinguser's touch may be disposed in addition to a configuration for displaydriving. That is, touch sensors TS for sensing touch and a plurality ofsub pixels for displaying images may be disposed in the active area A/A.

In a plurality of touch sensors TS, when the touch display device 100 isa liquid crystal display device, a common electrode which is disposed inthe active area A/A may be utilized as the touch sensors TS. When thetouch display device 100 is an organic light emitting display device,the touch sensors TS may be disposed on an encapsulation layer, but thepresent exemplary embodiments are not limited thereto. Accordingly, invarious embodiments, the touch sensors TS may be variously configured,and the touch display device 100 may include any type of display device,including a liquid crystal display device and an organic light emittingdisplay device.

Here, when the touch display device 100 is an organic light emittingdisplay device, a structure in which the touch sensor TS is disposedwill be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In one ormore embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the touch sensors TS may bedisposed between an encapsulation layer Encap and a cover of the touchdisplay panel 110.

That is, a configuration for touch sensing such as a plurality of touchsensors TS and touch lines TL (not shown) may be disposed on theencapsulation layer Encap.

Specifically, a cathode of an organic light emitting diode OLED isdisposed below the encapsulation layer Encap and the touch sensors TSare disposed on the encapsulation layer Encap to be spaced apart fromthe cathode.

For example, a thickness T of the encapsulation layer Encap may be 5 μmor larger.

The thickness T of the encapsulation layer Encap may be designed to beequal to or larger than a predetermined thickness so that a parasiticcapacitance formed between the cathode of the organic light emittingdiode OLED and the touch sensors TS may be reduced to a suitable level.Accordingly, the lowering of touch sensing sensitivity due to theparasitic capacitance may be suppressed.

In one or more embodiments, the touch sensor TS may be a mesh type touchsensor including a hole H, and the hole H included in the touch sensorTS may be located to correspond to a light emitting unit of the subpixel. The holes H are spaces between adjacent portions of the touchsensor TS, and the holes H may be aligned with light emitting portionsof respective sub pixels, such that light emitting from the sub pixelsmay pass through the holes H, between adjacent portions of the touchsensor TS, and out of the display device to display an image.

Therefore, the hole H of the touch sensor TS may correspond to a colorfilter CF. For example, when a white organic light emitting diode OLEDis used so that a color filter CF is required, a touch display device100 having excellent light emission performance may be provided byassociating a position of the color filter CF with the position of thehole H of the touch sensor TS. That is, the color filters CF may bealigned with the holes H so that light emitted from a respective subpixel may pass through a respective hole H and through a respectivecolor filter CF. The color filters CF may have various colors and maycorrespond, for example, to red, green and blue sub pixels.

A vertical position of the touch sensor TS and the color filter CF maybe designed in various forms.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the color filter CF and a blackmatrix BM may be disposed on the touch sensor TS. Further, the colorfilter CF and the black matrix BM may be disposed on an overcoat layerOC disposed on the touch sensor TS. The black matrix BM may correspondwith non-emissive regions of the sub pixels, and may be aligned with thetouch sensors TS, as shown.

As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the color filter CF andthe black matrix BM may be disposed below the touch sensor TS. In thiscase, the touch sensor TS may be disposed on the overcoat layer OC,which may be disposed on the color filter CF and the black matrix BM.The color filter CF and black matrix BM may be provided on theencapsulation layer Encap, as shown in FIG. 3.

That is, the touch sensor TS and the color filter CF may be designed tohave a suitable position relationship in consideration of a touchperformance and a display performance.

Further, a structure in which the touch sensor TS is disposed on theencapsulation layer Encap is provided so that it is possible to overcomea problem in that it is difficult to form a touch sensor TS which isgenerally a metal material in the panel due to the presence of anorganic material and to provide an organic light emitting display devicehaving excellent display performance and touch performance.

Each of the plurality of touch sensors TS disposed in the touch displaypanel 110 may be disposed to have a structure in which the plurality oftouch sensors TS are uniformly separated, or spaced apart from oneanother by a uniform gap, in the active area A/A and are connected tothe driving circuit through the touch lines TL.

The touch sensor TS and the touch line TL may be disposed to havevarious structures in accordance with a touch sensing method. In thepresent disclosure, an example that the touch is sensed by a mutualcapacitive sensing manner will be described, but the present embodimentsare not limited thereto.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the plurality of touch sensors TS may includea plurality of first touch sensors TS(Tx), which may be referred toherein as Tx electrodes. The first touch sensors TS(Tx) receive a touchdriving signal output from the driving circuit. The touch sensors TS mayfurther include second touch sensors TS(Rx), which may be referred toherein as Rx electrodes, which transmit a touch sensing signal to thedriving circuit.

Further, the plurality of touch lines TL may include a plurality offirst touch lines TL(Tx) connected to the Tx electrodes of the touchsensors TS and a plurality of second touch lines TL(Rx) connected to theRx electrodes.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the first touch lines TL(Tx) areconnected to respective Tx electrodes of the touch sensor TS in a firstdirection 101, e.g., a horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 1, and thesecond touch lines TL(Rx) may be connected to respective Rx electrodesof the touch sensor TS in a second direction 102, e.g., a verticaldirection as shown in FIG. 1.

The driving circuit applies a touch driving signal to the Tx electrodesthrough the first touch lines TL(Tx) during a time period when the touchis sensed, i.e., a touch sensing period. The driving circuit receivesthe touch sensing signal from the Rx electrodes through the second touchlines TL(Rx) to determine presence or absence of the user's touch and atouched position on the touch display panel 110.

Here, when the touch display panel 110 is quadrangular, as shown in FIG.1, the touch lines TL disposed in the non-active area N/A of aright-angled portion of the touch display panel 110 may be disposed tohave a structure curved at a right angle. That is, the touch lines TLmay include right angle bends corresponding to the right angle shape ofthe corner regions of the touch display panel 110.

However, in the case of display devices having various shapes, includingnon-quadrangular shapes, which have emerged in recent years, there is aproblem in that the touch sensors TS disposed in the active area A/A orthe touch lines TL disposed in the non-active area N/A are not disposedwith the same structure.

Further, in such various touch display devices 100, the sensitivity ofthe touch sensing according to a position of the touch display panel 110may not be uniform. Additionally, when the touch display panel 110includes an open area, it is difficult to design the touch sensors TSand the touch lines TL.

The present disclosure provides various embodiments of touch displaydevices, and methods for implementing a touch sensor TS and a touch lineTL in various types of touch display devices, and also provides a methodfor constantly maintaining a sensitivity of touch sensing even when thetouch display device has various shapes.

FIG. 4 illustrates a touch display device 200, in which the touchsensors TS and the touch lines TL are disposed, according to one or moreembodiments of the present disclosure. In this case, an outer edge ofthe touch display panel 210 includes a curve. More particularly, anouter perimeter of the touch display panel 210 includes first oppositesides that extend in the first direction, e.g., the top and bottom sidesas shown in FIG. 4. Second opposing sides extend in the second direction102, e.g., the left and right sides as shown in FIG. 4. Curved cornerportions of the outer perimeter extend between the respective first andsecond sides.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch display device 200 according to one ormore embodiment includes a touch display panel 210 on which a pluralityof touch sensors TS and a plurality of touch lines TL are disposed and adriving circuit (not illustrated) which drives the touch sensors TS.

The touch display panel 210 may be divided into an active area A/A inwhich a sub pixel for displaying an image and a plurality of touchsensors TS for touch sensing are disposed, and a non-active area N/Alocated outside the active area A/A.

An outer edge of the touch display panel 210 includes straight lineportions and curved line portions. For example, a curved outer edge maybe formed in a portion where an outer edge which is a straight line inthe first direction 101, e.g., a horizontal direction as shown, and anouter edge which is a straight line in the second direction 102, e.g., avertical direction, intersect in the touch display panel 210.

The active area A/A of the touch display panel 210 is disposed insidethe touch display panel 210 and a part of the outer edge of the activearea A/A may include a curved line.

That is, the outer edge of the active area A/A may include straight lineportions and curved line portions corresponding to the shape of theouter edge of the touch display panel 210. A portion of the active areaA/A having a curved outer edge may be disposed in position correspondingto a portion of the touch display panel 210 having a curved outer edge.

A plurality of touch sensors TS are disposed in the active area A/A andthe plurality of touch sensors TS disposed in the active area A/A may bedisposed according to the shape of the active area A/A.

For example, the touch sensor TS disposed inside the active area A/A aredisposed to have a uniform shape and the touch sensors TS disposed atthe boundary of the active area A/A may be disposed to have differentshapes according to the shape of the outer edge of the active area A/A.That is, the touch sensors TS include first touch sensors TS(Tx) andsecond touch sensors TS(Rx) which have a uniform shape, which may be thesame, for example, as the first and second touch sensors TS(Tx), TS(Rx)as shown in FIG. 1. Further, the touch sensors TS may include firstboundary touch sensors TS(Tx)′ and second boundary touch sensors TS(RX)′that are positioned along the perimeter of the active area A/A, and haveshapes that correspond to or define the outer perimeter of the activearea A/A.

Accordingly, in the first and second boundary touch sensors TS(Tx)′,TS(Rx)′, which are disposed to be in contact with a portion of theactive area A/A having a curved outer edge, a part of the outer edge maybe a curved line and may have various sizes in accordance with theposition where the touch sensor TS is disposed.

Since the touch sensors TS are disposed according to the shape of theactive area A/A, the user's touch on the touch display panel 210 in thetouch display device 200 implemented as various display devices may besensed.

The touch sensors TS are connected to the driving circuit through theplurality of touch lines TL.

The touch lines TL disposed on the touch display panel 210 are disposedin the non-active area N/A to be connected to the touch sensors TSdisposed in the active area A/A.

When the touch display panel 210 senses the touch in a mutual capacitivesensing manner, the plurality of touch lines TL may be configured byfirst touch lines TL(Tx) connected to the Tx electrodes of the touchsensor TS and second touch lines TL(Rx) connected to the Rx electrodesof the touch sensor TS. The first touch lines TL(Tx) and the secondtouch lines TL(Rx) are shown in FIG. 4 only in the enlarged views of thecorner regions of the touch display panel 210, where the first andsecond touch lines TL(Tx), TL(Rx) have a different shape than as shownin FIG. 1. In the other regions of the touch display panel 210 of FIG.4, the first and second touch lines TL(Tx), TL(Rx) have substantiallythe same shape as shown in FIG. 1, and thus the first and second touchlines TL(Tx), TL(Rx) are not shown in these regions for convenience.

For example, the first touch lines TL(Tx) of the touch line TL may bedisposed along one side, e.g., a left side as shown, of the non-activearea N/A of the touch display panel 210 and are connected to the firsttouch sensors TS(Tx) or the first boundary touch sensors TS(Tx)′disposed in the active area A/A in the first direction 101, e.g., ahorizontal direction as shown.

The second touch lines TL(Rx) may be disposed along one or both sides,e.g., left or right sides as shown, and may be connected along thesecond direction 102 to the second touch sensors TS(Rx) or the secondboundary touch sensors TS(Rx)′ disposed in the active area A/A in thesecond direction 102. The second touch lines TL(Rx) may extend from alower non-active area N/A of the touch display panel 210 to the uppernon-active area N/A of the touch display panel 210 along a left or rightnon-active area N/A of the touch display panel 210 where the first touchlines TL(Tx) are not disposed. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, thefirst touch lines TL(Tx) extend along the left side of the non-activearea N/A of the touch display panel 210, while the second touch linesTL(Rx) extend along the right side of the non-active area N/A.

Here, the first touch lines TL(Tx) or the second touch lines TL(Rx) maybe disposed to be curved in the non-active area N/A located outside of aportion of the active area A/A having a curved outer edge, e.g., thecorner regions.

That is, the touch lines TL are disposed to be curved in the non-activearea N/A located between a portion of the active area A/A having acurved outer edge and a portion of the touch display panel 210 having acurved outer edge to be disposed corresponding to the shape of the outeredge of the active area A/A.

Therefore, the touch lines TL disposed on the non-active area N/A of thetouch display panel 210 are disposed as a straight line or a curved lineaccording to the shape of the outer edge of the active area A/A.

Therefore, even when the touch display device 100 is designed to bevariant types, e.g., having a non-quadrangular shape, the touch lines TLthat connect the touch sensors TS and the driving circuit may be easilyimplemented.

As a part of the touch lines TL are disposed to be a curved line, whenthe curved portion in the touch lines TL are connected to the touchsensors TS disposed in the active area A/A, the touch lines TL may havea structure curved to form an acute angle or an obtuse angle. Thisshown, for example, at region “A” of FIG. 4, where the curved touch lineTL(Tx) bends from a curved portion to extend in the first direction 101to connect to a corresponding first touch sensor TS(Tx), thereby formingan acute angle.

In contrast, when the touch line TL is disposed only to have a straightline, a portion where the touch line TL is connected to the touch sensorTS is formed to be curved at a right angle. However, the touch line TLmay include a curve portion and may be connected to the touch sensor TSin the curve portion so that at least a part of the touch line TL may beformed to have a structure curved to form an acute angle or an obtuseangle.

As described above, according to the present embodiments, the touchsensor TS and the touch line TL disposed in the touch display panel 210are implemented according to the shape of the active area A/A so thatuser's touch may be sensed also in the variant touch display device 200.

In this case, the touch sensors TS are disposed to have different shapesaccording to the shape of the active area A/A, which may result in areduction of the sensitivity of the touch sensing depending on theposition of the sensed touch on the touch display panel 210.

The touch display device 200 according to one or more embodimentsprovides a structure of the touch sensors TS and the touch lines TLwhich may be implemented in the various shapes of touch display devicesand further provides a method for constantly maintaining the sensitivityof the touch sensing.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example of a structure of a touch sensor TSdisposed at the boundary of the active area A/A in a touch displaydevice 300 according to one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, the touch display device 300 includes a touchdisplay panel 310 on which a plurality of touch sensors TS and aplurality of touch lines TL are disposed and a driving circuit (notillustrated) which drives the touch sensors TS.

An active area A/A in which a part of an outer edge is a curved line isdisposed inside the touch display panel 310 and a non-active area N/A isdisposed outside the active area A/A.

In the active area A/A, a plurality of sub pixels for displaying animage and a plurality of touch sensors TS for sensing the touch aredisposed.

The plurality of touch sensors TS are separately disposed in the activearea A/A and are disposed according to the shape of the active area A/A.

For example, touch sensors TS disposed inside the active area A/A amongthe plurality of touch sensors TS have a predetermined shape and aredisposed to be separated from each other. The touch sensors TS disposedat the boundary of the active area A/A may be disposed to have differentshapes according to an outer edge of the active area A/A.

Therefore, in the touch sensors TS disposed in a portion of the activearea A/A having a curved outer edge, a part of the edge of the touchsensors TS may have a curved line.

In this case, the touch sensors TS disposed in a portion of the activearea A/A having a curved outer edge is disposed to have a shapeaccording to the shape of the active area A/A so that a size of thetouch sensor TS at the curved boundary of the active area A/A may besmaller than a size of an adjacent touch sensor TS.

By doing this, a sensitivity of the touch sensing of the touch sensor TSdisposed in a portion of the active area A/A having a curved outer edgemay be lower than a sensitivity of the touch sensing of the touch sensorTS disposed in a portion of the active area A/A having a straight lineouter edge.

Therefore, in order to constantly maintain the sensitivity of the touchsensing in the outer edge of the active area A/A, in the touch displaydevice 300 according to one or more embodiments, the touch sensors TSdisposed in a portion of the active area A/A having a curved outer edgemay be disposed to protrude toward the outside of the active area A/A.

For example, referring to FIG. 5, the touch sensors TS disposed at theouter edge of the active area A/A may include a first touch sensor TS1disposed in a portion of the active area A/A having a curved outer edgeand a second touch sensor TS2 disposed in a portion of the active areaA/A having a straight line outer edge. Both the first and second touchsensors TS1, TS2 are shown and discussed herein as Rx electrodes;however, in various embodiments, the first touch sensors TS1 that arepositioned at the curved outer edge of the active area A/A and thatprotrude outside the active area A/A may include one or more Txelectrodes, and one or more Rx electrodes.

Here, the first touch sensor TS1 has a shape according to the curvedouter edge of the active area A/A so that the size of the first touchsensor TS1 is smaller than the size of the second touch sensor TS2having the straight line edge at the boundary of the active area A/A.

Therefore, the first touch sensor TS1 which is in contact with thecurved outer edge of the active area A/A is disposed to protrude towardthe outside of the active area A/A, beyond the second touch sensor TS2which is in contact with the straight line outer edge of the active areaA/A.

Since the first touch sensor TS1 is disposed to protrude toward theoutside of the active area A/A beyond the second touch sensor TS2, asize difference of the first touch sensor TS1 and the second touchsensor TS2 may be reduced. That is, the first touch sensor TS1 may beincreased in size to protrude beyond the perimeter of the active areaA/A, thereby reducing a size difference between the first touch sensorTS1 and the second touch sensor TS2 that would otherwise exist if thefirst touch sensor TS1 extends only to the boundary of the active areaA/A.

By doing this, it is possible to suppress the lowering of thesensitivity of the touch sensing according to the position at theboundary of the active area A/A, in the structure in which the touchsensor TS is disposed according to the shape of the active area A/A.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of a structure of a touch sensor TSdisposed at the boundary of the active area A/A in a touch displaydevice 400 according to one or more embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, the touch display device 400 includes a touchdisplay panel 410 on which a plurality of touch sensors TS and aplurality of touch lines TL are disposed and a driving circuit (notillustrated) which drives the touch sensors TS.

An active area A/A in which sub pixels and a touch sensor TS aredisposed is disposed inside the touch display panel 410 and a non-activearea N/A is disposed outside the active area A/A.

In the active area A/A, a part of the outer edge is a straight line andthe other part is a curved line. For example, a curved outer edge may beincluded in a portion where an outer edge which is a straight line inthe first direction 101, e.g., a vertical direction, and an outer edgewhich is a straight line in the second direction 102, e.g., a horizontaldirection, intersect. That is, the outer perimeter of the active areaA/A may be curved in corner regions.

The plurality of touch sensors TS disposed in the active area A/A aredisposed according to the shape of the active area A/A.

Therefore, when the boundary of the active area A/A is a straight line,the touch sensor TS disposed at the boundary of the active area A/A hasa straight line edge and when the boundary of the active area A/A is acurved line, the touch sensor TS has a curved edge.

The plurality of touch sensors TS are connected to touch lines TL whichare disposed in the non-active area N/A and a contact pad CP may bedisposed between the touch sensors TS and the touch lines TL.

The touch sensor TS and the touch line TL may be connected through thecontact pad CP. The contact pad CP may be any element that electricallyconnects the touch sensors TS to the touch lines TL, and may include anywiring or conductive pathway, such as conductive vias, electrical jumperconnections, metallic pads, and the like. When the touch sensor TS is amesh type, the contact pad CP may be disposed corresponding to an outeredge of the touch sensors TS and the touch lines TL and the touchsensors TS are connected to the touch lines TL via the contact pad CP.

Here, since the touch sensor TS disposed at the boundary of the activearea A/A are disposed to have a shape according to the outer edge of theactive area A/A, the contact pad CP disposed between the touch sensor TSand the touch line TL may have a shape according to the shape of thetouch sensor TS. That is, the contact pad CP may have a curved shapethat corresponds to the curved shape of the touch sensor TS at theboundary of the active area A/A.

For example, the first contact pad CP1 which connects the first touchsensor TS1 disposed in a curved boundary of the active layer A/A and thetouch line TL may be disposed to have a curved shape according to theshape of the first touch sensor TS1. Further, the second contact pad CP2which connects the second touch sensor TS2 disposed in a straight lineboundary of the active layer A/A and the touch line TL may be disposedto have a straight line shape according to the shape of the second touchsensor TS2.

Since the first contact pad CP1 is disposed to have a curved shapeaccording to the shape of the first touch sensor TS1, an area differencefrom the second contact pad CP2 connected to the second touch sensor TS2may be reduced. That is, an area of the first touch sensor TS1 may beeffectively increased due to the increased size of the curved firstcontact pad CP1, thereby reducing the difference in area between thefirst touch sensor TS1 and the second touch sensor TS2.

Therefore, a difference in resistances of the first contact pad CP1 andthe second contact pad CP2 is reduced so that the sensing by the firsttouch sensor TS1 and the sensing by the second touch sensor TS2 areperformed under the same condition, which may suppress influence on thetouch sensing due to the different contact pads CP.

In one or more embodiments of the present dislcosure, touch displaydevices are provided in which not only the outer edges of the touchdisplay panel and the active area A/A have various shapes, but alsoshapes of inner or the outer edges of the touch display panel may bedesigned in various forms, and the layout structure of the touch sensorTS and the touch line TL by which the touch sensing is allowed isprovided.

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate embodiments in which a touch sensor TS and atouch line TL are disposed in a touch display device according to any ofthe various embodiments provided herein, and illustrate an example of atouch sensing structure when the touch display device includes an openarea O/A. The open area O/A may be provided in the display panel and mayaccommodate various features as desired, for example, a camera module, abutton, or the like.

A type of the open area O/A in the touch display device is exemplifiedas a hole or a notch, but the present embodiments are not limitedthereto. The present embodiments may be applied to all cases when anopen area O/A is included in an inner portion or along an outer edge ofthe touch display device.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which an open area O/A such as a holeis included inside a touch display panel in a touch display device 500according to one or more embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 7, the touch display device 500 includes a pluralityof touch sensors TS disposed in an active area A/A of the touch displaypanel.

Tx electrodes of a plurality of touch sensors TS are connected throughfirst touch lines TL(Tx) disposed in the first direction 101, e.g., ahorizontal direction, and Rx electrodes are connected through secondtouch lines TL(Rx) disposed in the second direction 102, e.g., avertical direction. The first touch lines TL(Tx) may extend across allof the Tx electrodes a respective row (as shown in FIG. 7), or mayextend to only a first Tx electrode of a row, which then may be coupledto the other Tx electrodes of the row by first electrical connections121 (as shown in FIG. 1). Similarly, the second touch lines TL(Rx) mayextend across a column of Rx electrodes (as shown in FIG. 7), or mayextend only to a first Rx electrode of a column, which may be coupled tothe other Rx electrodes of the column by second electrical connections122 (as shown in FIG. 1).

Here, an open area O/A is included inside the touch display panel andthe open area O/A may be disposed between two adjacent touch lines TL.

For example, the open area O/A may be disposed between two adjacentfirst touch lines TL(Tx) and between two adjacent second touch linesTL(Rx).

Further, the open area may be disposed in a region defined by theintersection of two adjacent first touch lines TL(Tx) and two adjacentsecond touch lines TL(Rx).

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the open area may be disposed in aquadrangular region defined by the intersection of two adjacent firsttouch lines TL(Tx) and two adjacent second touch lines TL(Rx).

Therefore, the boundary of the open area O/A formed in the touch displaypanel may be in contact with four touch sensors TS.

According to the present embodiments, since the open area O/A isdisposed between adjacent touch lines TL, the open area O/A may beincluded without changing the structure of the touch lines TL.

Further, since the touch is sensed by the touch sensors TS adjacent tothe open area O/A, even when the touch display device 500 includes anopen area O/A such as a hole in the panel, a structure which senses thetouch may be provided.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example of a structure of a touch displaydevice 600 according to the second exemplary embodiment and illustratesan example in which a notched open area O/A is included at an outer edgeof a touch display panel.

Referring to FIG. 8, the touch display device 600 includes a pluralityof touch sensors TS disposed in the active area A/A of the touch displaypanel. The touch display device 600 includes first touch lines TL(Tx)connected to the plurality of touch sensors TS in the first direction101, e.g., a horizontal direction, and second touch lines TL(Rx)connected to the touch sensors in the second direction 102, e.g., avertical direction.

Such a touch display panel may include a notched open area O/A in anouter edge adjacent to an outer edge of the touch display panel.

In this case, the open area O/A formed in the outer edge of the touchdisplay panel may be located between two adjacent second touch linesTL(Rx) disposed in the second direction 102, e.g., the verticaldirection as shown in FIG. 8.

Further, the open area may be disposed in a region defined by theintersection of two adjacent second touch lines TL(Rx) and a first touchline TL(Tx) disposed in the first direction 101, e.g., the horizontaldirection as shown in FIG. 8.

That is, as the open area O/A which is disposed at the outer edge of thetouch display panel and forms a part of the outer edge of the activearea A/A is disposed between two adjacent touch lines TL, the open areaO/A may be included without changing the design of the touch lines TL.

Further, the touch is sensed by the plurality of touch sensors TS whichare in contact with the boundary of the open area O/A so that astructure of the touch sensors TS and the touch lines TL by which thetouch sensing is allowed even when the open area O/A is included at theouter edge of the touch display panel may be provided.

According to the present embodiments, the touch sensors TS and the touchlines TL disposed on the touch display panel are disposed to have ashape according to the shape of the touch display panel and the activearea A/A, thereby providing a structure in which the touch sensing isallowed in various display devices having various shapes, including, forexample, non-quadrangular shapes.

Further, as the shape of the touch sensors TS disposed at the boundaryof the active area A/A varies according to the position, a size of thetouch sensors TS or a shape of a contact pad CP is adjusted toconstantly maintain a sensitivity of touch sensing in every position inthe various touch display devices.

Furthermore, the open area O/A is located between two adjacent touchlines TL inside or at an outer edge of the touch display panel, therebyproviding a structure in which the touch is sensed in a display deviceincluding the open area O/A.

It will be appreciated that various exemplary embodiments of the presentdisclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, andthat various modifications, changes, and substitutions may be made bythose skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit ofthe present disclosure. Further, the embodiments disclosed herein areintended to not limit but describe the technical spirit of the presentdisclosure and the scope of the technical spirit of the presentdisclosure is not restricted by the particular embodiments providedherein. The scope of the present disclosure should be interpreted basedon the following appended claims and it should be appreciated that alltechnical spirits included within a range equivalent thereto areincluded in the scope of the present disclosure.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. These and other changes can be made to theembodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, inthe following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limitthe claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specificationand the claims, but should be construed to include all possibleembodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which suchclaims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by thedisclosure.

1. A touch display device, comprising: a display panel having an activearea in which a plurality of pixels are disposed, and a non-active areaoutside of the active area, the active area having an outer perimeterincluding a curved portion; a plurality of touch sensors disposed on theactive area; and a plurality of touch lines disposed on the non-activearea and connected to the plurality of touch sensors, the plurality oftouch lines having respective curved portions corresponding to thecurved portion of the outer perimeter of the active area.
 2. The touchdisplay device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of touch lines arepositioned between the outer perimeter of the active area and an outerperimeter of the non-active area, and the outer perimeter of thenon-active area includes a curved portion that corresponds to the curvedportions of the active area and of the plurality of touch lines.
 3. Thetouch display device according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of touchsensors are disposed on the active area according to a shape of theactive area.
 4. The touch display device according to claim 1 whereinthe plurality of touch sensors includes a first portion of the touchsensors positioned adjacent to the curved portion of the outer perimeterof the active area, and a second portion of the touch sensors positionedadjacent to a straight portion of the outer perimeter of the activearea, the first portion of the touch sensors having a curved outer edgethat protrudes toward the outer perimeter of the active area beyond thesecond portion of the touch sensors.
 5. The touch display deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of contact padsrespectively contacting outer edges of the touch sensors, the touchlines being connected to the touch sensors via the contact pads, whereinthe contact pads have shapes corresponding to the respective outer edgesof the touch sensors.
 6. The touch display device according to claim 1wherein at least one of the plurality of touch lines includes a bendbetween the curved portion and a respective touch sensor, the bend formsone of an acute angle and an obtuse angle between the curved portion andthe respective touch sensor.
 7. The touch display device according toclaim 1 wherein the outer perimeter of the active area includes a firststraight portion that extends in a first direction, and a secondstraight portion that extends in a second direction that isperpendicular to the first direction, the curved portion of the outerperimeter of the active area extending between the first straightportion and the second straight portion.
 8. The touch display deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein the outer perimeter of the active areaincludes: opposing first and second sides that extend in a firstdirection, opposing third and fourth sides that extend in a seconddirection that is transverse to the first direction, and a plurality ofcurved portions, each of the curved portions extending between adjacentsides of the outer perimeter of the active area.
 9. The touch displaydevice according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of touch sensors isdisposed on the active area in a shape that is symmetric about at leastone axis.
 10. A touch display panel, comprising: an active area havingan outer perimeter including a curve; a non-active area positionedoutside the active area and having an outer perimeter including a curve;a plurality of touch sensors positioned on the active area; and aplurality of touch lines positioned on the non-active area, andconnected to the plurality of touch sensors, the plurality of touchlines having respective curved portions positioned between the curvedouter perimeter of the active area and the curved outer perimeter of thenon-active area.
 11. The touch display panel according to claim 10wherein curve of the outer perimeter of the active area corresponds tothe curve of the outer perimeter of the non-active area, whichcorresponds to the curved portions of the plurality of touch lines. 12.The touch display panel according to claim 10 wherein the plurality oftouch sensors are disposed to have a same shape as the active area. 13.The touch display panel according to claim 10 wherein the plurality oftouch sensors includes a first portion of the touch sensors positionedadjacent to the curve of the outer perimeter of the active area, and asecond portion of the touch sensors positioned adjacent to a straightportion of the outer perimeter of the active area, the first portion ofthe touch sensors having a curved outer edge that protrudes toward theouter perimeter of the active area beyond the second portion of thetouch sensors.
 14. The touch display panel according to claim 10,further comprising: a plurality of contact pads respectively contactingouter edges of the touch sensors, the touch lines being connected to thetouch sensors via the contact pads, wherein the contact pads have shapescorresponding to the respective outer edges of the touch sensors. 15.The touch display panel according to claim 10 wherein at least one ofthe plurality of touch lines includes a bend between the curved portionand a respective touch sensor, the bend forms an acute angle between thecurved portion and the respective touch sensor, and at least one otherof the plurality of touch lines includes a bend between the curvedportion and a respective touch sensor, the bend forms an obtuse anglebetween the curved portion and the respective touch sensor.
 16. A touchdisplay device, comprising: a display panel including an active area andan open area formed at least partially in the active area; a pluralityof touch sensors disposed on the display panel; and a plurality of touchlines disposed on the display panel and connected to the plurality oftouch sensors, the open area being positioned between two adjacent touchlines of the plurality of touch lines.
 17. The touch display deviceaccording to claim 16 wherein at least two touch sensors of theplurality of touch sensors contact the open area of the display panel.18. The touch display device according to claim 17 wherein four touchsensors of the plurality of touch sensors contact the open area of thedisplay panel.
 19. The touch display device according to claim 16wherein the plurality of touch lines includes a plurality of first touchlines disposed in a first direction and a plurality of second touchlines disposed in a second direction that intersects the firstdirection, and the open area is positioned between two adjacent firsttouch lines and between two adjacent second touch lines.
 20. The touchdisplay device according to claim 16 wherein a boundary of the open areaforms a part of an outer edge of the display panel.
 21. A display panel,comprising: an active area having an outer perimeter including a curvedportion; a non-active area outside of the active area; a plurality ofpixels disposed on the active area; a plurality of touch sensors on theactive area; and a plurality of touch lines on the non-active area, andconnected to the plurality of touch sensors, the plurality of touchlines having respective curved portions corresponding to the curvedportion of the outer perimeter of the active area, at least one of theplurality of touch lines includes a bend between the curved portion anda respective touch sensor that forms at least one of an acute angle andan obtuse angle between the curved portion and the respective touchsensor.
 22. The display panel of claim 21, further comprising anencapsulation layer on the active area and on the non-active area, theplurality of touch sensors disposed on the encapsulation layer.
 23. Thedevice of claim 22, further comprising a cathode electrode on the activearea and on the non-active area, the encapsulation layer disposed on thecathode electrode.